Professional Hockey Returns to Fresno

Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, November 9, 2026

• Monterey County has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement calling out federal activity on county-owned property.
• The California Coastal Commission has voted to allow transportation authorities to build a quarter-mile-long seawall to protect the coastal railroad in Orange County.
• Google, Meta and TikTok are suing California to block a new law aimed at shielding kids from addictive social media features like personalized feeds and autoplay for videos.
• After nearly 18 years off the ice, professional hockey is back in Fresno. The Fresno Falcons are making their return, bringing together old and new hockey fans. The team shut down abruptly in 2008 due to financial hardship.

The tracks that carry passengers on the Pacific Surfliner between Orange County and San Diego have shut down frequently in recent years due to rising sea levels and erosion.

Rail authorities have dumped boulders on the beach to buttress the tracks. Now they’re hoping a seawall will buy them time to come up with a more permanent solution.

Environmental groups and local tribal authorities oppose the plan, saying the emergency work has already ruined the beach. Critics say seawalls cause waves to refract and dig deeper, ultimately stripping away even more sand in the long run.

To mitigate the negative effects, authorities will haul in close to 700,000 cubic yards of new sand to San Clemente beaches over the coming year.

Google, Meta and TikTok are suing California to block a new law aimed at shielding kids from addictive social media features like personalized feeds and autoplay for videos. It also requires the deletion of children’s accounts with those features.

In separate lawsuits, the companies argue Assembly Bill 1709 wrongly substitutes the state’s judgment for that of parents. The companies said the law violates constitutional free speech protections, as well as Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which broadly shields online platforms from liability over user content.

Rin Alajaji is with the San Francisco based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which opposed the bill during its passage.

“Social media bans don’t really fix what’s wrong with social media companies, and we really need to think more creatively and expansively about how we address those harms,” said Alajaji.

The Attorney General’s office, which enforces the state’s laws and is the only defendant, said in a statement it is reviewing the lawsuits, adding, “Our office is committed to defending California’s commonsense laws to protect kids online.”

The sound of hockey is back at Selland Arena.

Two dozen players tear across the ice, their skates scraping against the surface as pucks fly from one end of the rink to the other. Just days before the Falcons’ first game, this is one of the team’s first practices together, and head coach Iain Duncan says there’s only one thing on his mind.

“We’re getting ready to win a championship. We are here at the training camp of the Fresno Falcons professional hockey team, and we’re bringing Selland back to life.”

Duncan has spent decades around the sport, first as a player, and now as a coach, but bringing hockey back to Fresno isn’t just about putting a team on the ice. He says it’s about reconnecting with people who supported the Falcons before.

“You never want to forget where you came from because that’s the people that laid the groundwork for us,” said Duncan.

The Falcons played in Fresno for 60 years starting in the 1940s, but professional hockey hasn’t been played in Fresno since 2008. Bakersfield has the Condors, and the Stockton Thunder are returning this year as well.

The Falcons announced their return earlier this year, with the same name, same mascot, and a fan base that’s been waiting for a hockey comeback.

Duncan says the new team is different in plenty of ways.

“Seventeen years is a long time. New technology, new everything, new players, new salary cap, new league,” says the coach. “It’s going to be high action, fast pace, hard hitting. We’re going to have a lot of fun on and off the ice.”

The finances will be different this time, too, including new sponsorships, partnerships, and community engagement. But some things haven’t changed.

Fresno resident and longtime Falcons fan Shelby Baird remembers going to games with her family when she was younger.

“One of the best memories I have is going out, and we got to greet the players and be out on the ice, so I thought that was a really cool experience.”

She says she’s held on to 2 pucks from those long-ago games. When the old team left, she says it felt like something was missing.

“When they took hockey away too, it was kind of like, wow, it felt like we’re getting downgraded almost as a city.”

Now, Baird has children of her own. She signed them up for the kids club, Freddie’s Flock, hoping they’ll make memories as she did.

“I’ve lived in Fresno my whole life. I love Fresno, and so anytime we can bring something good and positive to the community, I think that’s exceptional and that’s what we need to do.”

And that’s how Hugo Koch feels. He’s a forward for the team, and he was recruited all the way from Europe.

“I’m from a big town back home in Sweden, but this is like a perfect city. They’ve been telling me, it’s a pretty small town, but a big city. I love it so far.”

Other players signed from around the U.S., Canada, and even Belarus.

Koch has played professionally for 4 years. But he says this year is different.

“When you start playing for an inaugural team, you’re making history with that. Your whole team does, so being part of that is just really incredible.”

Houston Wilson is a forward from Pennsylvania. This is his sixth year playing professionally.

“I never imagined playing hockey on the West Coast in California, and, you know, I’m grateful to be a part of this, and I’m excited for what it could become.”

Of course, Wilson and the team want to win, but they also want to connect with the community.

“There’s already a huge following for the team. The team is garnering a lot of support, a lot of following already. So hopefully we’ll have a lot of success that’ll just keep building and it’ll show with our attendance.”

The Falcons are part of the Federal Prospects Hockey League. It’s an independent league where they’ll play 16 other teams around the country until the end of the season in April.

As of today, exactly one month into their season, the team boasts a 7-1 winning record.

Feature reported by: Samantha Rangel, KVPR